Georgian icon of the Mother of God in Russian Orthodox Church revered as miraculous.
It is believed that the beneficial power of this miraculous image allows you to heal a wide variety of ailments, such as stomach diseases, eye and dental diseases, helps with mental disorders, and can also give long-awaited offspring to women suffering from infertility. Cases of miraculous healings bestowed by the icon and its revered lists are recorded in church annals.

Accurate dimensional list icons

Georgian icon (1654) - Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Nikitniki

Georgian icon Mother of God in Sokolniki

List of the 17th century. - Temple of St. Martin the Confessor

Georgian Icon of the Mother of God in the Raifa Hermitage of the Mother of God

According to the iconographic type, the Georgian icon of the Mother of God belongs to the type of Hodegetria ("Guide"). It is close to the variation of Peribleptos (where the communication of the Mother of God and the baby is depicted). The iconography of the Mother of God is related to other Georgian icons of the 10th-16th centuries, especially those of Kakheti. The image under consideration is very reminiscent of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God.
The icon has an ark - a recessed central part on the front surface of the board. Images of the Mother of God and baby Jesus occupy most of the ark. The head of the Virgin is bowed and turned towards the Divine Infant, sitting on her left hand. The right hand of Christ is raised in blessing, and in his left he holds a scroll - a sign of saving teaching for the enlightenment of the human race.
A characteristic feature of the image of the Savior on the Georgian icon is the right leg, tucked under the left, bare sole outward.

Initially, the icon was located on the territory of Georgia. When the Persian Shah Abbas captured this country in 1622, the icon was taken to Persia among other trophies. Here, three years later, in one of the eastern bazaars, she caught the eye of Stefan Lazarev, the clerk of the merchant Grigory Lytkin from Yaroslavl. Stefan, who was in Persia on trading business, could not pass by the Orthodox image and at his own peril and risk acquired the icon, although the shrine richly decorated with gold and silver was not cheap.
Around the same time, its owner Grigory Lytkin had a dream about a certain icon that had to be transferred to a specific monastery near Arkhangelsk. Paying no attention to the dream, Lytkin soon forgot about it.
Four years after this event, in 1629, Stefan returns to Yaroslavl and shows the acquired Georgian Icon of the Mother of God. The merchant immediately recalls the mysterious dream and, following the instructions received in it, sends the image to the Krasnogorsk (formerly Montenegrin) monastery, which stood near Arkhangelsk on the Pinega River, where he builds a church especially for her.

The icon turned out to be miraculous. The monk of the monastery - the blind and deaf Pitirim, after praying before this image, gains sight and begins to hear.
This event was reflected in one of the church kontakion -
“Having a storm inside, having thoughts of a doubtful blind man, Pitirim, always illuminated by a demonic radiance of light, as if from the sun, we will be confused and afraid, we think about this, as if we were incited by demons: for many years I was blind, with prayer, make the sign of the cross, turning to the temple and behold Your miraculous icon, the Lady, shone with luminous rays in the temple, Abie understood, as if his eyes were opened and his hearing was opened, he brought thanksgiving to God, marvelous in deeds, singing: Alleluia.
The icon performed numerous miracles in the future, so that in 1658 a special decree was even issued by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon on establishing the day for celebrating the icon on September 4 (according to the new style), and since 1698 it was prescribed to bring the Georgian icon to the church every year. Arkhangelsk for, as they said: "the consecration of the city and Christ-loving peoples, demanding God's and Her Mother of God mercy."
But the icon was worn not only in Arkhangelsk, it visited Moscow, Vologda, Pereslavl-Zalessky and other Russian cities.
In the village of Klyucharevo, Korchevo district, Tver diocese, the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God miraculously helped get rid of the worm that attacked the sown fields. During the procession with the image, heavy rain began to fall, causing a worm to rise from the ground, and birds flying in from nowhere in huge numbers pecked it.

Unfortunately, the original of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God has not been preserved to this day.
In the twenties of the last century, with the closure of the Krasnogorsk monastery, the icon disappeared, only to reappear briefly in 1946, when the monastery reopened. Then Bishop Leonty of Arkhangelsk informed the Moscow Patriarchate that the icon had taken part in the religious procession in Arkhangelsk, but after that the image disappeared without a trace.
In the State Tretyakov Gallery the exact measured list of the icon of 1707, made by Kirill Ulanov, an isographer of the Kremlin Armory, together with his son Ivan, is kept. The inscription on the lower field of the image reads: “This holy Mother of God image was written with the measure and mark of what is in the Montenegrin monastery, called Georgian”.

Numerous lists were made from the holy image, and four of them, like the original, later became famous for their miracles.
Three of them are in Moscow.

In the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Nikitniki there is a list of 1654, allegedly made by Simon Ushakov, "a first-class iconographer of the royal school." That year, an epidemic of pestilence raged in Moscow, and just at that time the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God was brought from the Krasnogorsk Monastery to "renovate the painting and put on a new riza." The icon was placed in the Trinity Church in Nikitniki. The silversmith Gavriil Evdokimov ordered a list from it after he was healed after praying with this icon in front of his seriously ill son.
(the address of the location of this icon is the Temple of the Life-Giving Trinity in Nikitniki, Nikitnikov lane, 3)

Another miraculous list previously belonged to the Alekseevsky convent, located on the site of the current Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Its acquisition also dates back to 1654 and is associated with the same ulcer epidemic.
The nun of the monastery, remembering the miraculous Georgian icon, which was at that time in Moscow, wanted to ask her for healing. And in the night she had a vision of an unknown monk who said: “Why are you sad that you cannot bring the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God to you? In your monastery, in a cave, there is exactly the same icon, look for it - and you will see the mercy of God on yourself. Through this icon there will be healing not only for you, but also for many other people. After a long search, the sisters of the nuns saw in the church sacristy a closet built into the wall, similar to a cave, where the holy image was discovered. After a prayer service in front of him, the sick woman recovered, and soon the plague in Moscow came to naught.
By order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the amazing icon was decorated with a precious salary. In memory of the deliverance from the plague in 1654, the celebration of the icon on August 15 was additionally established.
(the list is in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Sokolniki, Sokolnicheskaya Square, 6)

The third list was previously in the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God on the Vorontsovo field. Miracles emanating from this copy of the Georgian icon prompted Tsarina Paraskeva Feodorovna to create a precious icon case (1706).
(the address of the current location is the Church of St. Martin the Confessor, Alexander Solzhenitsyn St., former Bolshaya Kommunisticheskaya, 15)

Another very revered copy from the Georgian icon has been kept since 1661 in the Raifa Bogoroditskaya hermitage of the Kazan diocese. The list was commissioned by Metropolitan Lavrenty to the best icon painter of Kazan. It was placed in a specially built for this purpose cathedral church in the name of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God. In the monastery tablets, miracles were recorded that occurred during the transfer of the icon from Kazan to the Raifa hermitage. The blind began to see, the mentally ill were healed, the lame began to walk without crutches.
The legend tells of an incident that occurred in the village of Vasilyevo near the city of Sviyazhsk in the summer of 1830. There was a terrible drought, and people prayed to the Georgian Mother of God for rain. During the prayer, a terrible cloud appeared in the sky, from which rain poured with hail, but not a single hailstone fell on the field with sown bread, although branches on trees broke under the onslaught of the elements next to the field in the forest.
(address of the location of the list - Raifsky Bogoroditsky Monastery, Republic of Tatarstan, Zelenodolsky district, Raifa village)

Prayer to the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God.

Accept, O all-powerful Most Pure Lady, the Lady Theotokos, these honest gifts from us, Your unworthy servants, to Your wholesome image, the singing of those who send up with tenderness, as if You are the very One and listen to our prayers and give with faith to those who ask for any request and fulfillment: relieve sorrow to those who mourn You give health to the weak, heal the weak and the sick, and drive away the demons from the heavenly ones. deliver the offended from offenses, and save the raped, forgive sinners. Thou cleansest lepers and little children, Thou hast mercy on the barren from barrenness. Still, Madame Vladichitse, you free yourself from bonds and dungeons and heal all kinds of passions and heal eye diseases and deliver you from deadly ulcers: everything is possible through Your intercession to Your Son. Christ our God. O all-singing Mother, Most Pure Mother of God! Do not stop praying for us unworthy Thy servants, glorifying Thee and honoring, and worshiping Thy Most Pure Image, and those who have irrevocable hope, and undoubted faith, to Thee Ever-Virgin, more glorious and immaculate, glorifying and honoring, and singing Thee forever and ever.
Amen.

In 1622, the Persian Shah Abbas conquered Georgia, capturing many sacred places of the Georgian land for sale to Russian merchants visiting Persia. Among the many stolen items was the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God, decorated with silver and gold.
One Persian merchant offered it to the clerk of the merchant Yegor Lytkin, Stefan Lazarev, who was then on business in Persia. Stefan happily bought the miraculous image of the Virgin in 1625 and kept it for some time.
At this time, the Yaroslavl merchant Yegor Lytkin saw this icon in a night dream and it was revealed to him that it was with his clerk Lazarev, and at the same time he received an order to send the Georgian icon to the Krasnogorsk monastery founded in 1603 on Pinega in the Archangelsk diocese. About it revelation Lytkin for some time forgot. But when Stephen returned to his homeland in 1629 and showed him the icon, the merchant immediately remembered the vision. He immediately went with the Georgian icon to the Dvinsk chapels to the Montenegrin monastery, where he fulfilled the previously seen omen. The Montenegrin monastery was named because it was built on a mountainous, gloomy-looking area surrounded by dense forests, known as the Black Mountain. This monastery received the name "Krasnogorsk Monastery" only later.
By the middle of the 17th century, the Georgian icon was revered as miraculous. So, at the very moment she was brought into the monastery, the monk Pitirim, who had not seen or heard anything for a long time, received healing. In 1658, Patriarch Nikon, then Metropolitan of Novgorod, researched legends about miracles from this image of the Virgin and established a celebration for him on August 22 (September 4, according to a new style). How far the fame of the Georgian icon was spread can be seen from the fact that during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich it was carried to different cities of Russia, for example, to Moscow, Ustyug, Vologda, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky and many others, religious processions with it even reached the Lena River in Siberia . A document of 1698 says that "Through the Georgian image, the Most Holy Theotokos even now works miracles and heals those who come with faith." In 1698, it was decided to bring this image to the city of Arkhangelsk every year "for the sake of consecrating the city and Christ-loving peoples, demanding God's and Her Mother of God mercy." At the same time, with the blessing of the Archbishop of Kholmogory and Vazhsky Athanasius, the caretaker of the Moscow printing house Fyodor Polikarpov compiled a canon in honor of the Georgian Mother of God.

As ancient monastic traditions tell, already at the time of the transfer of the icon from Kazan to Raif desert miraculous healings of the weak began to take place: the sight of the blind was restored, the maddened were cleansed, and the lame received correction. Thus, this icon from its very first appearance in the Raifa desert received the glory of the Miraculous. Having heard about this, the inhabitants of the city of Sviyazhsk asked the lord for permission to bring this image to them. And since then, on July 31, the icon of the Georgian Mother of God began to rise from its place and be brought to Sviyazhsk in the evening. The next day, after the liturgy in the Bogoroditsky Monastery, they organized a procession to the river Pike and carried the image around the whole city. Then the residents of Sviyazhsk were allowed to take the Miraculous Icon home, and from August 6 to 21 it was solemnly carried through the surrounding villages and returned to Raifa monastery. But there were cases when residents of individual villages turned to the rector of the monastery with a request to release the image of the Georgian Mother of God to them for prayers and at an inopportune time. This happened in the village of Vasilyevo on June 24, 1830. This is what the legend that has come down to our days tells.

“On the very day when the icon was carried from house to house and a prayer for rain was taking place, a terrible cloud suddenly found it. large hail in unusual quantity and size fell near the fields in the forest, so that tree branches broke off.

(holiday August 22), miraculous icon. According to the legend, G. and. was taken out by the Persians from Georgia in 1622, during the conquest of the country by Shah Abbas I, in 1625 it was bought out by Stefan Lazarev, the clerk of the Yaroslavl merchant Grigory Lytkin, who was in Persia on trade business. Upon Lazarev's return to Yaroslavl in 1629, Lytkin, seeing the icon, remembered the mysterious suggestion he had received to send the shrine to the Montenegrin (Krasnogorsk) monastery on Pinega (near Arkhangelsk), which was patronized by the Russians. merchants. Having delivered the icon to the monastery, he built a church according to his plan, donated to it utensils and a collection of books (Smirnov, 1998), most of which he copied himself.

Upon the icon's arrival at the monastery, miraculous healings began. In 1658, by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon, a celebration was established for the icon “for the sake of its miracles” on the day it was brought to the monastery. In 1698, it was decided to bring this image to Arkhangelsk every year "for the sake of consecrating the city and Christ-loving peoples, demanding God's and Her Mother of God mercy"; the icon was also carried to Vologda, Vel. Ustyug, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Moscow and Siberia, the Lena.

The icon disappeared after the closing of the monastery (1920-1922), later returned to the monastery: in a 1946 report to the Moscow Patriarchate, ep. Arkhangelsky Leonty (Smirnov) mentions that G. and. worn during the religious procession, which took place in 1946 in Arkhangelsk. The further fate of G. and. unknown.

A special milestone in the history and glorification of the icon was its bringing to Moscow in 1654. The icon was placed in the c. of the Holy Trinity in Nikitniki, where Yaroslavl natives of the merchants Nikitnikovs, patrons of the church built at their expense (1628-1651), had a courtyard. There is an opinion that the icon was brought to be renovated and put on a new riza.

At that time, there was an epidemic of plague in Moscow. Those seeking help from the icon received healing. Among them is the silversmith Gavriil Evdokimov, at whose request a prayer service was served at home in front of the icon, as a result of which his son recovered. Gabriel Evdokimov ordered for c. St. Trinity list with G. i., which was placed in the central iconostasis to the left of royal doors. Those who saw the icon considered it to be the work of a “first-class isographer of the royal school” (Trenev . 1903. p. 21), I. Tokmakov believed that Simon Ushakov was the author of this list (Tokmakov . 1896. p. 120).

One more list G. and. was placed in the sowing. Nikolsky aisle; The church was consecrated in honor of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God, which was reflected in the name of the lane leading from the temple to Varvarka.

On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the glorification of the icon (1904), a chapel in honor of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God was built in the lower premises of the church at the expense of the honorary citizen of the city A. V. Alexandrov.

In the Moscow Alekseevsky monastery on Prechistenka, since 1654, G. and. was also known, standing in the main Exaltation of the Cross Church. Her appearance in the mon-re is covered with a legend: someone appeared to a sick nun in a dream and said that it was not necessary to bring an image from c. of the Holy Trinity, since the monastery has the same forgotten icon. The image was found, and after a prayer service in front of him, the nun recovered. The famous icon was decorated with a precious salary at the expense of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon. According to the inventory of the Alekseevsky monastery of 1757, the salary of this icon is reconstructed (Romansky, 1903). Celebration of the Icon 15 Aug. in mon-re it took place with the rite of blessing the water and sprinkling the cells in memory of the deliverance from the plague in 1654.

The originating from the Alekseevsky Mon-rya G. and. (XVII century?), Transferred from a closed monastery in Krasnoye Selo to the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Sokolniki.

Another Moscow list of G. and. was in c. Intercession on the Vorontsovo field, which along the aisle was also sometimes called "Georgian", as well as the nearby lane. In 1706, with the diligence of Empress Paraskeva Feodorovna, a precious kiot was created for the icon. After the closure of the temple, the icon was preserved to the present day. time is in c. St. Martin the Confessor on Taganka (Kozarzhevsky. 2005).

Miraculous list of G. and. since 1661 he was in the Kazan diocese in the Raifa Bogoroditskaya desert. To write this image, Mr. Kazan Lawrence sent one of the best icon painters to the Krasnogorsk monastery. Raifa's list is empty. also became famous for miracles and was solemnly honored. Every year a religious procession was made to Sviyazhsk for the evening service, and the next day to the river and around the city. For 2 weeks, the image was worn around the houses and surrounding villages, but by August 22. the shrine was returned to the Raifa desert. As well as the prototype and subsequent lists, this list was decorated with a rich riza. The icon was preserved after the closure of the monastery, and upon its resumption in the 90s. 20th century placed in c. in honor of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God (built according to the project of M. P. Korinfsky in 1835-1842).

In 1698, with the blessing of the archbishop. Kholmogorsky and Vazhsky Athanasius (Lubimov), the superintendent of the Moscow printing house F. Polikarpov compiled the canon and troparion of G. and. There is also a service, known from the list of the legend about the icon, and a prayer, which was read in front of the icon (list of 1654) in the Alekseevsky Mon-re in Moscow, where it was honored on August 15. in memory of the miraculous acquisition of the list.

Loss of prototype G. and. Krasnogorsk monastery (description preserved in the monastery inventory - Macarius (Mirolyubov). 1880; Vasiliev. 1880; Chelmogorsky. 1902) is partly compensated by the list of 1707, executed by the patronized iconographer of the Kremlin Armory Kirill Ulanov with his son Ivan (43 × 30 cm; origin unknown, State Tretyakov Gallery) (Antonova, Mneva. Catalog. Vol. 2. No. 907; Miraculous image: Icons of the Mother of God in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, 1999, No. 16). On the lower field of the icon is the inscription: "This holy image of the Mother of God was written with the measure and mark of what is in the Montenegrin monastery, called Georgian." Below - an inscription indicating the names of the masters, made in smaller letters. The icon has 4 large reliquaries filled with mastic; the holes have retained traces of the fastening of the salary. The iconography of the list of 1707 coincides with all known early images of G. and. This version of the Hodegetria is close to the version of the Peribleptos. The Mother of God is depicted frontally, with her head slightly turned and bowed towards the Child; the floors of the maforium diverge, opening the neck of the tunic; the borders of the tunic, the maphoria and the cuffs are decorated with pearls and precious stones. Left hand in tradition. The position of the Mother of God supports the Infant sitting and turned towards Her, the right one - in a gesture of prayer (as a sign of worship to the Son). The head of the Infant is slightly thrown back, the right blessing hand is raised vertically, in the left is a scroll. G.'s feature of an output and. is the image of the right leg of the Infant, tucked out under the left naked sole (this detail is not typical for the Peribleptos and is different than on the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God). The robes of the Mother of God and the Child in the image of 1707 are trimmed with a continuous assist, which is typical for the works of royal iconographers. Perhaps this feature is consistent with the precious continuous riza of the prototype, known from the monastery inventory (“The entire image is overlaid with silver carvings: crowns, middle and margins, and the entire salary is gilded with honorary silver” - Macarius (Mirolyubov). 1880). If the prototype retained a characteristic load. icons have a solid chased salary, this determined the peculiarity of decorating the lists with an assist and a precious riza, leaving only the personal, as well as the cargo, uncovered. icons.

G.'s izvod and. has among the monuments of Georgia X-XVI centuries. analogies and is widely distributed, especially in Kakheti (G. N. Chubinashvili. Georgian chased art: Research on the history of Georgian medieval art. Tbilisi, 1959. No. 46, 148, 182, 546, 555; Guseva. 1995).

Lit .: Martynov A . A ., Snegirev, I . M . Rus. antiquity in the monuments of the church. and civil architecture. M., 1857; Dahl L. IN . Church of the Georgian Mother of God in Moscow // Architect. 1877. No. 9/10. pp. 87-88; Macarius (Mirolyubov), archbishop. East description of the Krasnogorsk monastery. M., 1880; Vasiliev A . East sketch of the Krasnogorsk monastery of the Arkhangelsk province. Pinezhsky u. SPb., 1880; Tokmakov I . F . East and archeol. description Mosk. Maiden Alekseevsky Monastery. M., 1896; Shmakov A . The legend of miracles. icon of the Georgian Mother of God and the former miracles from her. St. Petersburg, 1886; Zverinsky. T. 3. No. 888; Snessoreva. Earth life Rev. Mother of God. 1898. S. 293-294; Chelmogorsky V. Krasnogorsk Bogoroditsky Monastery // Kr. ist. description of the mon-ray of the Arkhangelsk bishop. Arkhangelsk, 1902, pp. 321-379; Romansky N . A . Miracle icon of the Georgian Mother of God in Moscow. Alekseevsky mon-re // Mosk. TsVed. 1903. No. 17. S. 214-220; Trenev D . TO . Monuments of ancient Rus. art c. Georgian Mother of God in Moscow. M., 1903; Villager E. Mother of God. pp. 542-546; Ovchinnikova E. WITH . Trinity Church in Nikitniki. M., 1970; Antonova, Mneva. Catalog. T. 2. No. 907; Guseva E . TO . From the history of veneration in Rus' of the icon of the Mother of God of Georgia and its cargo. prototype // Old Russian. art. Art XVIII - 1st floor. 19th century: Message. GTG. M., 1995. S. 6-14; Smirnov Ya . E . Library of the Yaroslavl merchants Lytkins in the 1st half. 17th century // Thu. on history and culture of other and new Russia: Proceedings of Conf. Yaroslavl, 1998. S. 87-102; Muller G. A . Raifa history: The shrine of the monastery is a miraculous icon // Raifa. Sviyazhsk. Kaz., 2001, p. 20; Kozarzhevsky A . Ch. Moscow saints: Orthodox. months. M., 2005.

The Atskur Icon of the Mother of God is located in Gelati, not far from Kutaisi. There are two versions of finding the miraculous icon of the Virgin. According to one of them, the icon of the Mother of God was brought to Georgia by the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, according to another, by Andrew the First-Called and the Apostle Simon. But according to all sources, the Atskur image is miraculous. Blessing the apostles on their way to distant Iberia (modern Georgia), the Mother of God asked to bring Her a piece of board. Having washed Her face, the Mother of God kissed the board, and on it was depicted the face of the Mother of God with the Son in her arms.

With this image, the apostles went to preach the Gospel in Iveria. Once the apostles sat down to rest, and in the place where they laid the icon, a holy spring gushed. This source in Andriastskaro does not dry up to this day.

According to legend, in the city of Atskur, the apostles resurrected the deceased son of the reigning widow, attaching to him miraculous icon Mother of God. When the time came for the apostles to leave Iveria, the inhabitants turned to them with a request to leave the icon of the Mother of God in the country. The apostles asked to bring a board of equal size, put it on the icon, and the image was completely copied onto the brought board.

Icon of the Mother of God "GAENATSKAYA"

August 28 (August 15 old style)

It is named after the Gaenat (Gelati) monastery near Kutaisi. The name of the monastery comes from the Greek "genathlakon" (birth) and is associated with the main temple of the monastery complex, consecrated in honor of Christmas Holy Mother of God. The more ancient Georgian name of the monastery is Genati, currently Gelati.

According to legend, the miraculous icon belonged to the holy Queen Tamara. It is quite possible that the Gaenat and Gelati icons are one and the same image, although their stories are associated with the names of different queens.

Icon of the Mother of God "GELATSKAYA"

locally honorable

Located in the Gelati (Gaenat) monastery. Crafted from gilded silver. Gelati Monastery is located 4-5 km northeast of Kutaisi, the ancient center of the historical province of Western Georgia, Imereti. According to legend, the icon of the Mother of God was brought to the monastery by King Bagrat and Queen Elena.

Gelati Monastery is the largest center of culture, history and scientific and pedagogical activity in Western Georgia, as well as an outstanding monument of Georgian architecture, founded by the holy noble king of Georgia David IV the Builder, in honor of joining the Georgian state - Kakheti and defeating the Seljuks in the valleys of Algetka and Khrami .

It is quite possible that the Gelati Icon of the Mother of God and the Haenatic Icon are one and the same image, although their stories are associated with the names of different queens.

Icon of the Mother of God "GEORGIAN"


Before the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "Georgian" they pray for deliverance from pestilence, epidemics, plague, for healing from deafness and ear diseases, blindness or other eye disease.

Description of the Georgian icon of the Mother of God:

Initially, this image was in Georgia, but during the conquest of the country in 1622 by the Persian Shah Abbas, the icon, along with other valuables, was taken to Persia, where enterprising Persians organized a trade in Orthodox shrines. Three years after these events, a local resident brought the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God to the Russian clerk of the Yaroslavl merchant Grigory Lytkin, Stefan Lazarev, who was in Persia on trading business, and offered to buy it. Lazarev could not miss the opportunity to redeem the Orthodox shrine and, despite the high cost of the icon, decorated with silver and gold, he acquired it.

At this time, the merchant Lytkin, in a sleepy revelation, learned about the acquisition of his clerk and was instructed from above to give the shrine to the Krasnogorsk Monastery in the Archangelsk diocese. Initially, this monastery, built on a mountain covered with dense (black) forests, was called Montenegrin. The merchant soon forgot about this revelation, but when four years later his clerk returned to his homeland and showed the acquired icon, the pious merchant remembered the vision and immediately went on a trip to the Arkhangelsk province, where he handed over the shrine to the monks of the Krasnogorsk monastery.

The Georgian icon of the Mother of God soon became famous for the miracles of healing performed near it. So, to the monk Pitirim, after his prayers at the miraculous image, the lost vision and hearing completely returned. Already in 1650, Metropolitan Nikon of Novgorod, future Patriarch Moscow and All Rus', having examined the recorded healings from prayers before the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, set the day for its celebration - August 22.

The fame of the miraculous Georgian Icon of the Mother of God quickly spread throughout Rus'. The chronicle of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich testifies that the miraculous image was worn in many Russian provinces, even on Lena in Siberia. The charter of 1698 says: “Through the image of the Georgian Mother of God, both before and now, she works many miracles and healings for those who come with faith.” At present, several lists (copies) of the ancient image are venerated in Moscow. Unfortunately, the original of the miraculous Georgian icon of the Most Holy Theotokos has not been preserved.

Iconographically, the Georgian image is similar to the JERUSALEM icon of the Mother of God.

Icon of the Virgin "Georgian from Bodbe"

locally honorable
(The revered Iberian icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was cut with a scalpel in the Soviet years)

The monastery and episcopal complex of St. George in Bodbe was built by King Mirian in honor of the Assumption of the Enlightener of Georgia, Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina. It is located in one of the historical regions of Georgia - Kakheti.


Icon of the Mother of God "GEORGIAN from Martvili"

locally honorable

Martvili is a city in Georgia, on the Colchis lowland, 32 km from the Abasha railway station.

Icon of the Mother of God "GEORGIAN from Svaneti"

locally honorable

Svaneti is a historical region in Georgia, on the southwestern slopes of the Main Caucasian Range.

Icon of the Mother of God "GEORGIAN "You Vine"

locally honorable

In the name of this icon, the Mother of God is associated with a vine. The icon is newly painted, but has already become famous as miraculous.

Icon of the Mother of God "GEORGIAN from Khobi"

locally honorable

Khobi is a city in Western Georgia.

Icon of the Mother of God "ZION"

locally honorable

Description of the Zion Icon of the Mother of God

The icon was located in the ancient Zion Cathedral in the city of Tiflis (now Tbilisi), built in the 4th century by King Vakhtang Gurguslan. Several times in the long-suffering history of Georgia, the Zion Cathedral was devastated, and in 1518, Shah Ishmael, during the devastation of Tiflis, ordered all the shrines, including the Zion Icon of the Mother of God, to be thrown into the Kura River. The current carried the icon to the outskirts of the city of Navtlug, where it was discovered and taken from the water. Now copies (copies) of the ancient Zion icon are distributed throughout Georgia, there is an icon in the revived Zion Cathedral.

Zion Cathedral in honor of the Assumption of the Mother of God, or simply Sioni, is the modern residence of the Catholicos of Georgia. Stored here the greatest shrine Georgia - the cross of St. Nina, made from two pieces of a vine and intertwined, according to legend, with the own hair of the enlightener of Georgia.

Icon of the Mother of God "Khakhulskaya"

locally honorable

Description:

Shrine of the Kutaisi Gelati Monastery, founded in the 8th century in honor of the Assumption of the Mother of God by the holy King David (commemorated February 8, according to a new style). Tradition says that this image of the Mother of God was painted by the Evangelist Luke. The icon of the Mother of God KHAKHULSKAYA is decorated with a golden riza with precious stones. Many decorations were donated by the Georgian Queen Tamara.

One of the legends tells that Queen Tamara was once going to the Liturgy at the Gelati Monastery. At this time, she was informed that some unknown beggar was asking for alms from her tower. The queen ordered her to wait. When, after some time, she left the tower to give alms, the beggar was no longer there, and they could not find her anywhere. Tamara was alarmed. Thinking that in the person of a beggar she refused the Lord Himself, she took off what was the reason for the slowdown - the royal bandage, and put it on the image of the Virgin.

Icon of the Mother of God "TSILKANSKAYA"

1.

2.

The ancient Georgian shrine is named after the place of its original location - the Tsilkan Monastery. now revered ancient list(copy) of the icon - one of the main shrines Patriarchal Cathedral Svetitskhoveli.

Icon of the Holy Mother of God of Tsilkan
Triptych. 1995, birch bark.

Mother of God Mgvimevi
9th century
Tbilisi

The veneration of the image of the Mother of God by Orthodox Christians is a long and glorious tradition of believers. Touching feelings of admiration for her were realized in the creation of seven hundred different icons, reproducing Holy Mary alone and together with the Son. Many temples named after her are dedicated to her, she is sung in hymns and glorified in soul-filling prayers. Orthodox faith and tenderness. Each image brings help and relief in its own way, but all provide healing and goodness. One of such glorious icons is the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God, the power of which not only heals the soul and body, but also helps women who have lost hope of having a child find the long-awaited happiness of motherhood.

Description of the icon

From the position of Christianity, the depictions of saints on icons are considered mediators between the heavenly and earthly worlds, and the main meaning of admiration for them is to address prayers not to the picture, but to the image that it shows. The understanding of iconography is accessible exclusively to a pious person who does not doubt the inscrutableness of God. Imagination helps people to see with their mind's eye the miraculous power of the Divine forces, but in the process of turning to the saints, it is easier to do this by seeing their images in front of you.

Icons of the Mother of God, painted over many centuries of the existence of Christianity, are compositionally divided into various types. The Georgian icon of the Mother of God is an image painted in the style of icon painting Hodegetria, which means Guide. Building Orthodox icons must follow strict rules. According to legend, it was in this style that the apostle Luke created the first icon.


The compositional feature of the iconography of the icon is that the images arranged in the depression in the center of the board occupy almost the entire area and are placed in the form of a triangle, the longest side of which coincides with the inclination of the head of the Virgin to the Son. On the icon, the Georgian Mother of God holds the grown-up Baby on her knees, with one hand supporting the Son, and with the other hand pointing upwards, she points to Christ, as if telling about the road destined for the human race to pass in order to be cleansed from sins. This pointing gesture also confirms that Jesus is the savior of mankind.

The Virgin Mary on this image is shown as an escort of Christians to God. This type of icon usually depicts the Virgin from the waist. The head of the Virgin Mary is slightly turned and tilted towards the Divine Infant sitting on her left arm. A characteristic feature of this icon is the method of drawing a long veil flowing from the head of the Mother of God in folds, leaving a triangle of a blue chiton and the lapels of the cape.

Christ usually holds his right hand in such a way as if he blesses all who come to him. In his other hand he holds a scroll, which is a symbol Old Testament, later supplemented by the Savior. Distinctive feature icons - the image of the right leg of Jesus, turned with his bare foot outward.

The best way to see the Georgian Mother of God is in the church - there she is usually large.

Acquisition history

This icon is Georgian in origin, but in 1622, after the capture of Georgia by Shah Abbas, it ended up in Persia. After 3 years, it was bought by merchant clerk Stefan Lazarev. Returning to his homeland in Yaroslavl, he gave the image to the owner, and the merchant himself, who had seen prophetic dream, sent the image to the Krasnogorsk Monastery, located in the vicinity of Arkhangelsk on the Pinega River, where a temple was erected and equipped at his expense. Almost immediately, numerous miracles began to happen here: the monk Pitirim received his sight and gained his hearing. The miraculous image was moved from religious processions in many regions of the country.


To Georgian Moscow Mother of God sent in 1654: it was necessary to update and make a new salary for her. During the spread of the general disease with the appearance of the icon, miraculous recoveries were compared. Grateful for the cure of his son, the craftsman Gavriil Evdokimov commissioned to write a copy of the icon, transferred to the church on Glinishchi, located in Nikitnikov Lane. The duplicate of the icon also began to perform unusual miracles and help the townspeople in curing various diseases.

In 1650, Metropolitan Nikon set the date for the veneration of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God - September 4 (August 22, old style). After the revolution, the monastery was closed, the miraculous icon of the Georgian Mother of God was last seen in 1946 after the revival of the monastery. Later, the image disappeared and did not appear anywhere else.

Create lists with icons

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Kremlin icon painter Kirill Ulanov created a carefully measured list of images of the Georgian Mother of God. Today, copies of this image have been made and kept in various churches in our country, most of which are considered miraculous. Lists of the ancient image are found in many Moscow churches, for example, Alekseevsky possesses it. convent on Prechistenka. The image appeared in the 17th century under very curious circumstances. The sick nun asked in vain to bring her an icon from another church, and she was told in a dream that a list of the icon was secretly kept in their monastery. A short search led to a sacristy hidden in the wall with miraculously.


The ancient image got to the Raifa Bogoroditskaya hermitage already in 1661, having been transferred from Kazan, and Metropolitan Lavrenty instructed the famous icon painter to create a copy miraculous image. In the Raifa Monastery, a church specially designed for her was erected for the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God, where she immediately began to perform miracles - she began to help heal the blind, the lame and the insane. Nowadays, a lot of pilgrims come to the Raifa Monastery to bow to the miraculous image.

Another highly revered image of the Mother of God is found in the church of Martin the Confessor. For him, Paraskeva Fyodorovna ordered the manufacture of a precious icon case in the 18th century.

Ostankino Church Life-Giving Trinity, consecrated in our time, also has a similar image, which has a very curious story, telling about the appearance of the owner of the Virgin Mary, who herself determined the location of the icon. The history of the restoration of the icon is also connected with its miraculous spontaneous restoration. Here the doxology of the Georgian Mother of God is systematically read.

Operating temples

A lot of churches are dedicated to the image of the Georgian Mother of God, they are located in many cities and villages of our state and abroad. The Raifa temple was erected within the boundaries of the Mother of God monastery in the middle of the 19th century specifically for the veneration of this image. The beauty of the church, the peaceful atmosphere and the unique energy of ancient icons delight believers and attract many tourists to the temple.


The functioning temple of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God is located in the village of Yakshino. Built in the 18th century and possessing a miraculous image, it was destroyed during the Soviet era. The church was restored by the whole world, and services were resumed in 2004.
Churches and chapels in honor of the remarkable image exist in many Russian regions:

  • in the Chuvash Republic;
  • in the Republic of Tatarstan;
  • in the Tver region;
  • in the Ryazan and Kaluga regions.

The village of Vasilievskoye (Shuisky district) was famous for its old temple, which had fallen into disrepair. Now the ancient iconostasis of this church is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum.

What is asked in prayers addressed to the Virgin

Even today, the icon never ceases to amaze with its miracles of healing. Recourse to honored lists Holy Mother of God Georgian helps to heal true believers. She is prayed for the treatment of the most complex ailments. She can help:

  • in various epidemics;
  • with diseases of the stomach, including ulcers;
  • with deafness and blindness;
  • with dental ailments;
  • with infertility;
  • with mental illness and obsession;
  • contributes to the treatment of cancer.

A special reverent awe is experienced by women who have lost hope of becoming a mother, and their prayers, if they come from pure heart often help them find long-awaited happiness.

You can pray to the icon in your own words, it is important that they are sincere. In a request to send down the opportunity to conceive a child, they glorify the Virgin Mary, list the miracles bestowed by the Queen of Heaven on her children on earth, ask:

  • deliverance from sorrows and troubles;
  • curing a disease;
  • cleansing from sins;
  • resolution from infertility.

Most of the prayers of the Mother of God of Georgia specifically mention the meaning of Jesus Christ, the request of the Mother to whom can perform a miracle. True faith that the Lord will hear a penetrating prayer allows a Christian to observe the canons of the Orthodox Church. The gratitude of the parishioners for the many miracles that happened thanks to the wonderful image is expressed in gifts in the form of crosses hanging in front of the image.

Orthodox believers who are familiar with Christian shrines are well aware of which holy images it is necessary to bring prayers in a given situation, where to make a pilgrimage, asking for the help of the Virgin Mary. Miraculous lists of the image of the Georgian Mother of God today are in many churches. They attract a mass of parishioners, hoping for help in solving various health problems and other problems. Church documents record many miraculous cases healing, as well as finding the happiness of motherhood.


close